MANY maybe unaware that the on-going bruising battle between the United States , US, and the United Nations,UN, over the former’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is not the first altercation triggered by President Donald Trump.

Earlier in the year, the Trump administration had tried to bully the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, into submission over the issue of Jerusalem.

Trump
UNESCO was established on November 16, 1945 to build peace in the world employing education, science and culture, promoting human rights and integrating world values.

As part of its mandate, it resolved in December, 2016 to ask Israel to rescind all legislative and administrative measures capable of “altering the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem” and to rethink its occupation of East Jerusalem.

The Trump administration which came into office a month later, described the UNESCO resolution as an “anti-Israeli bias” and demanded it be rescinded. When this was not forthcoming, the American Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson wrote on October 12, 2017 withdrawing the US from UNESCO.

On December 6, Trump made his declaration recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by deciding to move the US embassy to the city contrary to a standing fifty-year declaration by the UN that the Palestinians have a right to a state and that the status of East Jerusalem, seized by Israel in 1967 will be determine by international negotiations.

There was outrage across the world and in two weeks, the US was forced to face the consequences of its act; it was shunned even by the tinniest of nations and its allies, forced to explain and defend its positions and humiliated. It started with the Monday December 18, 2017 meeting of the UN Security Council which voted that any recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital “must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council”.

Fourteen members voted for while the US alone voted for itself. To stop the overwhelming majority decision, the US used the veto. It was the first US veto in six years. US Representative to the UN, Nikki Haley almost apologetically said of the veto: “This is not something that the United States does often… We do it with no joy, but we do it with no reluctance.

The fact that this veto is being done in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council.” In truth it was both an embarrassment and humiliation for the US.

To underscore this, President Trump lamented: “All of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council or they vote against us, potentially, at the Assembly, they take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us”.

Following a call for a vote in the UN General Assembly to pooh-pooh the American veto, Trump threatened: “Well, we’re watching those votes… Let them vote against us; we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”

With the General Assembly vote slated for Thursday December 21, America went into a panic mood. This had been heightened by the fact the day after the Security Council vote, the General Assembly had by 176 – 7 votes, reaffirmed the right of the Palestine to a state and self-determination. To stave off the looming disaster and shame, the Americans wrote an ill-advised letter of threat and intimidation to all countries warning them of dire consequences if they dared vote against the US. The letter signed by Haley told them: “As you consider your vote, I encourage you to know the President and the US take this vote personally. The President will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those who voted against us”. It was like a primary school Head Teacher warning pupils that the Headmaster was watching.

Predictably, many countries were incensed. The Bolivian Representative , Sacha Llorenty told Harley that the first name in her black book should be Bolivia.

The Republic of Botswana responded in a letter: “Botswana will not be intimidated by such threats and will exercise her sovereign right and vote based on her foreign policy principles which affirm that Jerusalem is a fundamental final status issue, which must be resolved through negotiations in line with the relevant United Nations resolutions. Despite the consequences, Botswana encourages all Member States of the United Nations to support the resolution on the Status of Jerusalem”.

The scenario reminds me of American threats in a January 3, 1975 letter signed by then President Gerald Ford warning African countries not to recognise the MPLA Government in Angola. In response, the Nigerian Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed had mounted the Organisation of African Union, OAU, rostrum to denounce America and declare: “ Africa has come of age. It’s no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful.”

Last week, the UN General Assembly resolution urged nations to “refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions” in Jerusalem and accept the consensus under international law that East Jerusalem should be the future capital of a Palestinian state. When the vote was taken, 128 countries voted against America and only 9 voted for with 35 abstentions.

The American humiliation was complete as its traditional allies like France, Britain, Germany and Japan voted against it as did countries under American military occupation like Iraq and Afghanistan. The disgrace was worsened by the fact that only five countries of substance voted for US; America itself, Israel, two Latin American countries, Guatemala and Honduras, and the black leg in Africa, Togo. The four other votes came from tiny countries dependent on America; Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau!

An obviously confused Harley declared the UN vote “null and void” .The Americans railed: “We will remember it when we are called upon once again to make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations”.

Although a bumbling apprentice President with no flare for learning anything new, nobody can dispute the fact that Trump is experienced in the stocks, except that he has ran down the American international stocks so much that it might achieve a junk status by the time he leaves power or power leaves him.

The US has obviously become a drag on the UN and world peace. Since it considers itself as the world, I wonder when it will depart the UN in peace as it did UNESCO. Please let us meet next week on ‘The Day the US departs the UN’.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is to conduct its optional mock examination in January, preparatory to a better examination later in the year.

The board made this disclosure in a statement signed by its Head of Media, Mr Fabian Benjamin and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

The board also reiterated the need for candidates to register on time and ensure that they follow due process in order to avoid avoidable challenges.

“As we prepare for the 2018 examinations, beginning with the optional mock, we urge candidates to register on time, make clear their choices of institutions, disciplines and examination centres in the process.

“Candidates must note that their first choice can be a College of Education, a university, an Innovation Enterprise Institution, a polytechnic or a monotechnic.

“Others include, the Nigerian Defence Academy or the Police Academy.

“We will conduct a better examination, ensure more transparent admission and make more remittances to the government,” stated the statement.

The board, which described 2017 as year of transformation to success with the support of stakeholders, added that 2017 was its most eventful year so far.

“In 2017, the board conducted one of the most transparent, inclusive and acceptable examinations with the least incidence of malpractices.

“We invested significantly in the development of intellectual structures, examination infrastructure and human human resources.

“This will propel more development in 2018 and put the board in the position to compete favourably with any public institution; globally, be it an examination body or service agency.

The board also noted that while it had opened its “entire functionality to public participation and scrutiny”, it had been able to adopt some of the suggestions made by the public, which it said, had helped “to build the new JAMB”.

It promised to sustain and make better the entire process in 2018, noting that the success of its Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) portal helped to achieve success.

“Candidates were exposed to the new admission software to check admission excesses and our aim is to ensure that no candidate is unjustly treated.

“The only way to achieve this was to open the process up for everybody to see who is admitted, with what aggregate score, and who is not and why is he or she was not admitted.

“Also, candidates were able to use the CAPS window to monitor admissions into institutions of choice to ensure that they are not cheated”.

The board added that it would continue to take up its statutory responsibility in order to meet the mandate of the government, which was to bring new ways of generating revenue while also improving service to the public.

“We will continue to do everything possible to support the drive of this administration towards excellence”.

President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to make a national broadcast on January 1, 2018 at 7 am. on the occasion of the 2018 New Year.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, urged television and radio stations to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast.

By Simon Kolawole
It is time to confess my sins. All my adult life, I have never feared for the continued existence of Nigeria as much as I did in 2017. Anybody who knows me very well knows where I stand: I believe in one, united Nigeria. It is not that I am an incurable optimist or that I am the most patriotic Nigerian alive. It is just that after assessing all the issues that so easily bog us down, I have always come to the conclusion that we do not have irreconcilable differences that should inevitably lead to divorce. I have always believed that every ingredient, every resource needed to make Nigeria work is here with us. I’ve always concluded that we have been terribly let down by the ruling elite.
My stand on Nigeria — in the face of campaigns for its balkanisation along ethnic, religious and other sectional lines — has earned me plenty enemies. I know people who have stopped reading me because of that. In fact, one “egbon” I used to look up to accused me of pandering to certain sections of Nigeria as “a tactic for personal advancement, like Obasanjo (or Tinubu’s failed 2015 plan)”. He as much as said I was not a Yoruba “freeborn”. I was amused at the personal attack over differences in worldview. Of course, there is always a price to pay if you refuse to play the ethnic and religious card in political commentary, if you do not go with the flow — and that I know.
But I will be honest and confess that there were two events that shook my confidence in the unity of Nigeria in this outgoing year, so much so I got to the point of throwing up my hands in surrender and saying “it is all over”. One, the politics over the grave illness that befell President Muhammadu Buhari and kept him away in the UK for months. Two, the October 1 deadline issued to Igbo people to leave northern Nigeria because of the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. I had never been so scared about the possibility of another nationwide bloodshed and the risk of another civil war as much as I was in 2017.
Sometime in February, I was inside a bank when I got a call from a woman who lives in Jos, Plateau state. She sounded frightened. Let me paraphrase her: “There is a message going round in the north that Yoruba people have poisoned Buhari so that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would take over as president if he dies. They said the poison was placed on the curtains in Buhari’s office, that the Yoruba want to take power through the back door. The Hausa people here seem to believe this rumour. If Buhari dies, we are in trouble. They will start attacking and killing us. You know killing human beings means nothing to these people.”
I was confused. I didn’t know what to tell her. She spoke to me in a way that suggested I could do something about the rumours or the backlash that would follow if anything happened to Buhari on the hospital bed. As soon as we ended our conversation (I only said “I have heard you Ma and I will tell some contacts”), my head went into a spin. I started imagining things. If Yoruba were attacked in the north, there would be reprisal in the south-west. There would be turmoil again in the country. We could be back to the June 12 calamity of 1993 which effectively shut down Nigeria for five years. The damage to our economy is yet to be assessed and quantified.
In Buhari’s absence, things were happening at a dizzying pace. Different shades of rumours and theories flew all over the place. Far-reaching changes were effected in the military high command to such an extent that allegedly favoured northern officers. The word in town was that the military would rather take over than allow power to return to the south so “quickly”. Chief Bisi Akande, a senior member of the ruling party, issued a statement warning that what happened in 1993, when Bashorun MKO Abiola’s victory was annulled by the military, must not repeat itself. There was fire in his eyes and his words were really clear, to borrow a line from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.
Akande fired: “Let me warn today that those who wish to harvest political gains out of the health of the president are mistaken. This is not Nigeria of 1993. We are in a new national and global era of constitutionalism and order. We hope Nigerians have enough patience to learn from history. My greatest fear, however, is that the country should not be allowed to slide into anarchy and disorder of a monumental proportion.” Speaking in Lagos a few days later, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu advised the military against staging a coup, warning that “Lagos will resist you”. Those who were in Lagos in 1993 would understand the implications better.
I intensified my prayers for Buhari to regain his health and come back to Nigeria alive. This had nothing to do with the fact that I am unashamedly one of Buhari’s admirers, in spite of his obvious weaknesses. My concern was for Nigeria. If Buhari had died, the crisis would be unimaginable. Killings and counter killings. We all know that the biggest undoing of President Goodluck Jonathan, for some people, had nothing to do with his performance in office but the fact that he “usurped” power when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died. Jonathan could never do anything right in the eyes of those who wallowed in this mindset. I never wish to see a repeat in my lifetime.
While we were at it, the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra was marked with pomp. The cries of marginalisation by the south-east reached a crescendo. Kanu enjoyed enormous airtime on TV/radio and lengthy inches in the newspapers. He was everywhere on social media. And then a group called Arewa youth whatever came up with the reckless declaration that all Igbo in northern Nigeria should vacate by October 1, 2017. I froze. We normally don’t run reports that promote ethnic hate and warmongering at TheCable, and I remember the editor, Mr. Taiwo George, asking my opinion on whether or not to run the story. I advised him it was too important to ignore.
I was fearful of the likely outcome of the ultimatum. If the Igbo did not quit as demanded, would they be attacked and killed in the north? Wouldn’t the Igbo also retaliate in the south-east? Would the tit-for-tat stop there or degenerate into a bloodbath that would bring back memories of 1966-67 and lead us into another civil war? My biggest fear was that even if the Arewa youth eventually withdrew the quit notice, the people on the streets might still go ahead and attack Igbo people. The group was playing a very dangerous game and toying with emotive issues whose consequences no one could predict. In all honesty, I was really, really scared.
I began to review my positions on the unity of Nigeria. In my mind, I started moving away from “One, United Nigeria” to “anybody that wants to go should go”. After all, South Sudan left Sudan. Eritrea ditched Ethiopia. Soviet Union broke up. Yugoslavia disintegrated. Deep down my heart, I still desired one Nigeria — a rainbow coalition whose strength is in its diversity. But I came to the conclusion that while ordinary Nigerians have learnt to live with, and tolerate, one another, the political gladiators — including their intellectual sidekicks — are bent on pursing the agenda of balkanisation. The political class has continued to disappoint and manipulate the ordinary Nigerians.
In the chaos though, I was comforted by the moves made by prominent Nigerian leaders to douse the tension. As a journalist, I was privy to some of the underground peace moves made by prominent statesmen. Many of them do not talk openly but are selflessly working day and night to prevent ethnic and religious conflagration in Nigeria. In the end, the Arewa ultimatum was withdrawn and Igbo were not attacked in the north. My fears melted. Well, the elites are masters of brinksmanship. Most importantly, though, Buhari did not die. I honestly can’t say if Nigeria would still be in this shape if Buhari had not returned alive. God be praised.
Okay, Nigeria has survived another turbulent year. There is peace. But the best conclusion would be that this is the kind of peace you find in a graveyard. The issues always exploited by the political elite are still there. It is only a matter of time before these sentiments are whipped up yet again in the competition for political power and patronage. We have survived yet another turbulence that tested the foundation of our nationhood. I continue to wish that the unity of Nigeria would be strengthened. I wish the agents of balkanisation would have a rethink. But I am intelligent enough to know that we have not seen the last of it. Nevertheless, I remain a believer in one Nigeria.

PRESIDENT WEAH
Simon Kolawole
I first heard of the name George Weah in 1988. Iwuanyanwu Nationale had defeated Tonnerre Kalara of Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2-0 in the first leg, second round of the African Club Champions Cup (now called CAF Champions League) in Owerri. They were suddenly gasping for breath as the Liberian mercilessly terrorised their defence in the return leg. Iwuanyanwu still managed to beat them 3-2 after all the drama. Weah would go on to Europe to do great things. He has now been elected president of Liberia in the most fascinating fashion — including returning to school to get university education after his first failed presidential bid in 2006. What a strike! Sensational.
ON YUSUF BUHARI
Simon Kolawole
My prayers and wishes are with the First Family over Yusuf Buhari’s motorbike accident on Tuesday night. From what we are hearing, the president’s only surviving son suffered serious injuries in the accident. Biking and car racing are dangerous sports that are not yet properly regulated in Nigeria — even though they have been with us for a while. It is usually the children of the rich who engage in these sports here. I would suggest that, if possible, the useless velodrome at the national stadium, Abuja, should be converted to a racing arena so that people can exercise their hobbies in a safer environment. Government could even earn revenue from it. Commonsense.
OIL DOOM
Simon Kolawole
The time has come for us to finally admit that Nigeria is a country like no other. It is the only OPEC member that imports petrol! It is the only country that has refineries that are not working! It is the only country that regularly spends billions on “turn around maintenance” of its refineries without results — and yet continues to hold on to those refineries! It is the only country in the world, bar warzone, where fuel scarcity and fuel queues are integral to national culture! It is the only country in the world that does not have the competence to import petrol! It did not start today. It won’t end today. That is why we are Nigerians. Jokers.

BROUGHT IN DEAD
Simon Kolawole
Nigerians have been having fun on the social media over the latest round of appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari. Far from the usual ethno-religious analysis, the interest this time is in the comical inclusion of names of dead people on the list. You call that posthumous national service! Something tells me most of the appointees were nominated in 2015 when Buhari’s supporters thought he would hit the ground running, but somebody did not bother to do due diligence before throwing the list to the media in 2017. If the list was indeed prepared in 2015, does it mean it took over two years to make it public? Killjoys.

The Presidency on Saturday said there was nothing “scandalous or extraordinary” in the inclusion of the names of some dead persons in the list of appointments into boards of some agencies released by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Friday.

It said the list had been prepared over two years ago and nobody could stop some of those included on the list from dying between then and now.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, gave the clarification in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

Shehu recalled that the process of compiling the list started in 2015 while a reviewed list was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017 shortly before his health challenges.

The presidential spokesman said having recovered fully, Buhari only instructed the new SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, to release the list.

He assured Nigerians that nominees who are dead would be replaced.

He explained, “This list is a historical list. It dates back to 2015. The President asked all state chapters of the APC to forward 50 names for appointments to the SGF through the national headquarters of the party.

“The then SGF, Babachir Lawal, presented the report in October 2016, one year after he was commissioned.
“The report was disputed by state governors who said they were not carried along or the list was not representative enough.

“So, the President constituted a new panel chaired by the Vice President. The panel has some governors and some leaders of the party as members. They were asked to go and review the list.